


Summoner in Fodlan

by WindyOakes



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Academy Era, Alternate History, Alternate Universe, Angst, Askr (Fire Emblem Heroes), Bisexual Character, F/M, Female Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route Spoilers, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route Spoilers, Fluff, Mentioned Black Eagles Students (Fire Emblem), Mentioned Blue Lions Students (Fire Emblem), Missions, Other, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Time Skip, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Realm Hopping, Spoilers, Summoning, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22381744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindyOakes/pseuds/WindyOakes
Summary: Summoner has a mission to fix history in Fodlan. Will she have enough time before the students become suspicious? Will she be found out the moment she gets there? But more importantly, who does she intend to save now that she's there?
Relationships: Alfonse/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran
Comments: 18
Kudos: 55





	1. A Dark Forest

~Begin Act 1~

Aviana squinted in the darkness surrounding her and questioned her every move. The trees seemed to curve into her, and the leaves rustled as creatures of the night hopped from branch to branch. She was quite alone in this forest and she couldn’t help but get the feeling someone was watching her. Her eyes darted form side to side, trying to picture tyrants in the woods and how she would dispose of them. Her heart started to beat fast at the very thought of an ambush or her death. Grotesque images filled her mind before she shook her head. She would not allow herself to think like that. Carefully, she pulled out a map with scribbles all over it showing key places around the town. “Keep going through the woods until you see the large ethereal light emanating from the monastery?” Aviana asked, squinting, “Not very helpful if you ask me, babe.” 

She tried looking through the trees for some much needed light, but nature was unrelenting. The stars barely shown above and the little lantern she held in her hand only gave her a fraction of the light she needed to see through the dense brush. However, she needed to keep walking if she ever planed to get there before dawn. She grunted as she kept herself from tripping over tree roots once again and carefully placed one foot in front of the other to prevent further trips. Thinking back Alfonse should have better prepared her when this mission started, but maybe he underestimated how dark Fódlan could get at night. It wasn’t teeming with light like Askr after all. It was darker and colder than the castle she loved.

Oh, this mission? It was one to save history. 

While reading over the books in Askr’s library, Aviana noticed something askew. As she was reading, the words in the pages were rearranging themselves like they were creating a history all their own. Once they settled Aviana’s eyes grew wide and she immediately ran to Alfonse and the others. They all took one look at the book and the rearranged history before they panicked. In the new history, people were dying when they weren’t supposed to, students’ personalities in the future were off, and professors who should have been leading were nowhere to be found. They all tried to find other options before ultimately settling on sending someone to Fódlan. 

A small group of six people spread out over Fódlan with Aviana being the one to go in headfirst. 

That’s why she was walking through the woods and would soon be hiding amongst the students of the Officer’s academy. But she was nervous. Even now, as the wind blew through the loose strands of her hair and as she could faintly make out spec of light, her heart beat fast. She was worried the students would immediately reject her, having never seen her in their lives. After all her story wasn’t very convincing: a common girl who lived on the border between Adrestian Empire and the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus who came from such a small family no one would know her. Just from her story would they know she was a stranger. Would they call her bluff when she didn’t know absolutely every detail a small-town girl would know? Would the students, royalty and commoners alike, know something was up just by the uniform she was wearing? She rubbed against her sleeves and looked at the uniform in the dim light. 

Anna and some other heroes tried their hardest to get the uniform right but seeing as students from Fódlan have yet to appear amongst the Askran ranks, they couldn’t find the correct fabric. Even now she could notice the differences between the uniform she was wearing and the ones in the picture she had. All these worries caused Aviana to break out in a sweat and pull at her collar as the wind continued to blow. 

The wind. 

It was unusually strong for a clear night such as this. Though the stars themselves were hidden behind the canopy of trees, the wind had no problem knocking Aviana around like a doll. At one point, the door of her tiny lantern blew open and extinguished the flame. “No!” Aviana yelled, “Come on!” Now she was truly in the darkness. She threw the lantern on the ground in frustration and stomped on it before she had time to process what she was doing. It was her only light source. Her only allowed one anyway. 

She sighed as her blood cooled and logic came back to her. She looked at the tiny black bag on her hip for a good long time before she sighed once more and pulled out her fire tome. “Alfonse told me not to use my magic, but desperate times call for desperate measures.” She said. She read the tome and tiny ball of fire lit in her hand, giving her more light than the lantern and a flame impervious to the wind. She continued walking through the rest of the forest until the trees thinned and she could finally see the light and monastery in all its glory. 

For moment, Aviana was lost in a trance as she took in the ethereal glow and strong power coming from it. It was if the goddess was truly present there. Nerves hit her once more as she realized she would be staying there and learning from the esteemed professors. “Garreg Mach Monastery.” She whispered, “It’s even more beautiful than the pictures. Am I really up to this?” Doubt clouded her mind as she took things into perspective. Garreg Mach was just one small entity in the whole of Fódlan. It wouldn’t take much for her cover to be blown or for her to accidentally spill the beans to one of the students. 

Sure, she was pretty good at keeping a secret and she wouldn’t outright say “I’m not from this world” but her mannerisms were dangerous. She sometimes forgets how much knowledge she holds and her want to spread what she’s learned could prove to be catastrophic. When her emotions got the best of her she was prone to sharing more information than needed. But Alfonse reassured her before she left. “You’re going to do great.” She heard Alfonse’s voice echo in her mind, “You have the strongest mind out of all of us and I have no doubts that you will be able to do this. Believe in yourself as I have believed in you.” 

Aviana snapped her hand shut and put out the flame she had been holding. No use for it now she was so close to her destination. She let out a deep sigh and replaced her sullen and doubtful look with a smile of determination. “Alright.” She said as she placed her book in her bag, “Let’s do this.” 

She took one step, intent on going to the monastery, but was met with a volley of arrows and dark magic preventing her from going any further. A loud gasp escaped her lips before she stumbled backward, nearly tripping on a root behind her, before steadying herself once more. She quickly whipped out the book of tomes once more and started yelling out spells left and right, along with a few obscenities. The arrows disappeared within her fire and any spells flung her way faded away as they hit her protective magic.

She kept up with the arrows and magic pretty well and managed to keep all of them at bay. When the arrows seemed to let up, she stood at attention for a minute more, looking carefully for more arrows or blasts of magic she didn’t see. Sweat beaded at her forehead and a very real panic was still deeply set in her system while looking for these arrows. What had happened in the first place? Alfonse mentioned nothing about someone being hostile toward newcomers. Did they miss something in the history books or was it something completely different? 

Every possible answer she tried to come up with seemed to hit a dead end as she couldn’t find a logical explanation for each one. That was until she thought of one particular girl. Aviana gasped as she let her guard down seeing as there was no more arrows or magic blasts. “Could it be…?” she asked herself, “Could she? No, she could have.” She started to walk forward once more seeing as she caught every arrow. Or so she thought. 

A loud voice rang through the forest. “Look out!!” it shouted. One more arrow, perhaps shot later to make sure she let her guard down, shot passed her head, grazing her face and head and knocking her clean off her feet. She fell backward and hit her head hard on the tree root she had tripped over before. With one fresh hit to the head, she was out cold and passed out on the forest floor.


	2. Where Am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aviana wakes up in the infirmary with Manuela there. She's shocked when she finds out how long she's been out.

Strong arms carried her, and she could feel the slight rise and fall of that person’s chest against her own body. But that was all she could understand. In her injured state, Aviana was floating in and out of consciousness. For moments at a time she would open her eyes only to close them quickly and before anyone could get any concrete answers from her. What she got from those groggy moments were young voices and the crunching of dirt underneath their feet. One thing was clear though: the people who came to her aid were students of the Officer’s Academy. It was quite odd. Why would students be casually passing through the woods late at night?

Flashes of blue, red and yellow passed her vision as well as worried faces for a few seconds before it faded away again. Bickering was a prominent theme among the three and certain voices stuck out more than others. She could make out a few questions like “are you alright” and “what was she doing out there” but she had no way of answering them or reaching out or telling them she was there. Another peculiar thing was the voices sounded far away and echoed back and forth in her mind. They all seemed distant. Kind of like Askr. 

Where was she anyway? She couldn’t have been in the forest still since someone was carrying her. But the ground was still soft and not like stone. They must have still been somewhere outside a building, right? Aviana mentally grunted. The fall must have given her quite the injury if she couldn’t remember where she was going. The world moved around her once more and she could feel as the students came to a halt. She could feel as they moved from somewhat squishy ground to hard stone floors. Were they finally inside a building? It was somewhere important, she knew that. “What was the building again,” she thought, “A…church? No…a mon…mona….” She quickly slipped into the realm of unconsciousness once more, unable to continue her thought. 

The voices grew quiet for a long time. She couldn’t hear the murmur of the students who came to her rescue or the booming voice of the worried man at the entrance to this…place. 

A soft melody. 

That’s all she could hear. It was sweet and though it sounded more mature than anything she had heard before; it was still beautiful. The way the notes dipped in and out so flawlessly, the way it seemed to flow like a river, and the raw emotion of it impressed her. It was if the person who was singing it had experienced true hardship. The song was so pretty, Aviana could feel herself being lured out of her slumber because of it. 

When the voice became louder, Aviana knew it was time to open her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light and she squinted in the brightness. The grey stone of the ceiling is what she saw first. She stared at it for second, unsure of whether she was a part of the living or the dead quite yet. The singing she heard stopped as the person there realized her eyes were opened. “Oh,” the voice asked. “Have you finally joined us in the land of the living?” 

Aviana shakily lifted herself out of the bed and looked around, a somewhat confused look in her eyes. Light filtered in through the window to the side and there were two other unoccupied beds to her sides. She could feel a bandage on her head and, thankfully, it wasn’t soaked with blood. A woman with blond hair sat in front of her a slight smile on her face. “This must be the infirmary.” Aviana thought, “And that must be Manuela. But I can’t let her know that I know her.” 

Aviana tried to say something out loud, but all that came out of her rusty vocal cords were croaks. Aviana coughed, trying her best to make them obey her commands. Manuela laughed at her feeble attempts to say something. The professor put her hands up in a stopping motion and started to speak. “What were you doing the woods all by yourself at night?” she asked, “Surely you had someone to come here with you?” Aviana shrugged and she noticed as Manuela’s eyes shifted toward the door. It was if someone was on the other side of that wall. “Oh, and the students were quite worried about you.” She said, “You three can come in! I know you’re out there!” 

There was a moment’s hesitation before the three class leaders walked in. The one in blue, Dimitri, looked rather sheepish for getting caught. The one in yellow, Claude, walked with is hands behind his head as if nothing happened and as if he wasn’t slightly sheepish for getting caught as well. Finally, the one in red, Edelgard, walked as proud as ever into the infirmary. Aviana followed Edelgard closely with her eyes. She knew her own mission was to prevent everyone from finding out Edelgard’s devious plan. But, she wondered how much the girl actually knew about her mission. 

Was she the cause of this little incident in the woods? 

“These three are the house leaders.” Manuela said, causing Aviana to look at her, “They were the ones that found you in the woods when you were being attacked. And I am Professor Manuela, the professor for the Black Eagles house.” 

Aviana cleared her throat and nodded. For a split second, Aviana’s eyes accidentally met with Manuela’s chest causing her to go bright red and slip up on her words. “Tits-uh!” she yelled, “I mean IT’S nice to meet you!!” Her face turned beet red and Manuela narrowed her eyes at her slip up. 

Claude smirked while both Edelgard and Dimitri were trying their hardest to keep a straight face. Many people have accidentally fallen for Manuela, but none were bold enough to make a move on her…even though it was accidental. Aviana clapped a hand over her mouth as she waited for Manuela’s judgment. “Charming.” She said, her eyes still narrowed, “I will forgive you this one time, but next time I won’t be so sweet. Now, you three. Do you have anything to say?” 

Dimitri bowed his head slightly before speaking. “I’m just glad we found you before those bandits did.” He said, “I hate to think about what could have happened if we came a second too late. If you choose, The Blue Lions House is opened for you.” 

Claude laughed. He patted both Edelgard and Dimitri on the back before he spoke. He also gave Aviana a bit of a wink. “We’d be glad to have you at The Golden Deer house as well.” He said, “Just stay safe from now on.” 

Edelgard straightened herself up with an annoyed look on her face due to Claude’s casual pat on the back. Aviana guessed she wasn’t used to being touched or roughed around with like that. “The same goes for me.” She said, “The Black Eagles would love to have you. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have work to do. Isn’t that right boys?” Dimitri and Claude looked at each other and shrugged having no choice but to listen to her. Edelgard led the way out of the room and they followed close behind. 

When they left the room, Aviana gave Manuela a confused look. What could they have had to prepare for and what was keeping them so busy? Was there something she hadn’t accounted for when looking over her notes? Also, which house was Byleth leading if Manuela was leading The Black Eagles? So many questions filled her head, but she couldn’t find the answers or find the way to put them into words. But she had to try if she were to fix the timeline. 

“What’s going on?” she asked, “Who are the other professors?” 

Manuela sighed before standing up to look at something on a small side table. She flipped through a small book, licking her finger with each turn of the page. When she got to spot she was looking for, she smiled and turned back to Aviana. “The professor for The Golden Deer House is Professor Byleth while Professor Hanneman leads The Blue Lions.” She said, “The Goddess’s Rite of Rebirth is in the next week. Why do you ask?” 

Aviana went pale. She got here nearly a month ago. Had she really been out for that long? What was she hit with exactly? If it was enough to put her out for nearly a month, then it must have been a strong spell or a poisoned object. However, none of that mattered right now. She had to join The Golden Deer House and prevent Claude from getting The Sword of the Creator. Aviana threw the blankets off her legs and attempted to walk, but promptly fell down. She was out of practice. All that time in bed caused her muscles to weaken. 

Manuela quickly came to her aid and hoisted her up and threw Aviana’s arm around her neck while she grabbed her by the waist. “You aren’t going anywhere except for your room.” She said, “You can’t join in the celebration until you’re good and healed. You understand?” 

Aviana sighed and nodded as she was aided by Manuela all the way down to her room. As they passed by the different sights of the monastery, Aviana’s eyes grew wider. She had only seen pictures of it in the books she read, but she couldn’t imagine it being so beautiful. The sun fell over the buildings giving them an orange hue, fish jumped in the pond joyously, delectable smells wafted from the dining hall causing Aviana’s stomach to rumble. It was all stunning in her eyes. She could get used to living here.

But, she couldn’t let herself get distracted by all the beauty. She still had a mission to fulfill. 

When they found her room, Manuela helped her get into bed by setting her down and throwing the blankets back over her legs. Manuela looked slightly winded from walking all that way, but she was wearing a smile nonetheless. A threatening smile, but still a smile. “Now you stay here.” She said backing out of the room, “I don’t want to see you up and about until you’re stable. Got me?” 

Aviana nodded once more, and Manuela left her to her thoughts. With one fell swoop, Aviana lifted the covers off her legs to get a better look. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Her bones were straight, and she couldn’t see any visible tears or wounds. It must have just been a muscle thing. 

She grabbed a tome she had been storing in her bag, which they miraculously haven’t taken, and began to heal her legs herself. 

“I don’t care what it takes me.” She said her voice serious, “I have to stop Claude from getting that sword.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! These chapters are really slow because I haven't had the time to write.   
> Thanks for being patient and I hope you enjoyed!


	3. The Rite Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aviana must stop Claude from getting The Sword of the Creator. If he does get it, who knows what will happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will begin to add the supports in in a few chapters!  
> I only have a few down so far, but I'm working on it!

It took Aviana the full week before the celebration to heal her legs. The damage taken to her muscles was more intense than she had originally thought. Everything was twisted, it was extremely painful, and she couldn’t do much except walk around her room to get any practice in. In the day or so leading up to the celebration, she walked around the monastery trying not to get caught by Manuela or one of the other professors. She did get to know the students, however. They were…quite odd to put it nicely. 

There was a couple that came to mind off the top of her head. Marianne was a sweetheart, though it would do her good to gain a bit of confidence in herself and her abilities. Sylvain was as flirty as she had thought him to be and Dorothea was sweet and spunky and someone she wanted to get to know. Of course, she had read up on each of the students before she set out on this mission. Why wouldn’t she? She knew about their pasts their presents and their futures. She needed to be prepared and the know the history inside out to fulfill this mission.

The only real problem would come if she were to slip up too much when talking to them. Such as telling too much about her experiences with war or talk about something that had yet to surpass. So far, they had taken a liking to her and none have been the wiser about her true origins. 

When the day for the celebration finally came, Aviana readied herself in a small mirror in her room. She was wearing a mask he had crafted from supplies she found in the town and a black cloak to cover her uniform from view. It wasn’t anything too fancy like Jeritza’s since she only had a week to craft it, but it was still good. Every part of her costume was ready, she just hoped she was ready to take on this mission.

“You ready to do this, Aviana?” she asked herself while sighing. She threw the hood of the cloak up on her head and nodded before turning to the doors. She opened them enough to let herself out before quietly closing them once more.

Surprisingly no one was around to witness her daring escape to the Holy Mausoleum. All the staff’s attention was directed at the festivities being had in the main part of the monastery and no knight or soldier came to check the secret passages she took to get there. She crawled through cavernous, almost pitch black spaces to get to her destination. Spiders crawled everywhere causing her to flinch a couple times. But, in due time she reached the Mausoleum and saw The Golden Deer House in the heat of battle. Lorenz swung his lance with every part of his being while Claude fended off attacks directed at Lorenz’s back. 

“Surprising that those two are getting along.” Aviana muttered under her breath.

The rest of the students were spread around, fighting off other bandits and miscreants. They were pretty efficient, Aviana must give them that, but they lacked the essence of a true team still. Most of them were off fighting by themselves and paying no mind to what’s going on around them and their wide opened backs. If a real enemy were to attack them, they would surely be dead. Byleth, who was at the center of it all, tried her best to get them to pay attention but she was having a hell of a time. She managed to rope a few students into standing by her side, but the more rebellious of them took either the front or the back head on.

Aviana sighed. She thought back to when she and Alfonse started to work together. It was the same sort of dysfunction as they were still getting used to each other. She was too shy to talk to Alfonse or give orders and Alfonse wanted to charge directly into the action. It indeed took them a while to get used to it. She smiled at the thought before she shook her head and got back to work. 

She stayed at the back of the Mausoleum; confident her spells could reach Claude if the time came. Plus, the Death Knight was standing at the middle of the place. If she were to run into him, her life would be over in a heartbeat. Steering clear of him, she hid behind one of the stone caskets and waited there. Overlooking the casket showed it was Saint Cethleann who was laid to rest there. She took out her Fire tome and waited. She was looking for a small section of time where Claude would try to dive for the sword instead of the professor.

Why was she stopping him from getting to it? Because if Claude gets a hold of that sword, he would be turned into a demonic beast. He would then have to be killed by the professor, damaging the morale of The Golden Deer House and forever altering history. There would be a war before Edelgard would even have a chance to start it. Aviana couldn’t let that happen.

Aviana sighed as the time drew closer for her to take action. “I am not particularly religious but,” she said. “Goddess, please give me your divine protection.” 

Byleth finally defeated the last foe in her way and Claude reached for The Sword of the Creator just as planned. Aviana quickly flipped through the book, raised a hand to the air, and let out a soft grunt as the spell was cast. Flames quickly danced around Claude, catching him just in time to prevent him from grabbing the sword. Byleth grabbed The Sword of the Creator and put the last foe to rest. Aviana nearly cheered out loud for her small victory.

As for Claude, he stood there, confused by the sudden flames and quickly turned his attention to his comrades. Someone helped him to extinguish the flames before he started to move again. He gave them a strange look, one that was a mixture between confused and mad. His anger quickly turned to the only mage that wasn’t a part of their house. 

“Linhardt, why did you do that?” he asked, “I was so close!” 

Linhardt immediately took offense to this accusation. Sure, he had the Fire tome but it didn’t mean he used it to thwart Claude’s plans. He had no interest in furthering or destroying someone else’s plans for glory. “I didn’t do anything!” he said back, “You really think I have the energy or care to want to mess with your plans for greatness? Ask someone else!” 

The boys started to argue, much to the dismay of the other students and Byleth who had to now break it up. Aviana used the argument to run far from the Mausoleum and back to her room. Once there, she stashed the cloak and the mask and laid herself up in bed once more. She took a book from her bedside table, messed up her hair, and spread her things out on her bed to make it look like she had been hard at work.

When Manuela and others came to check on her, they were none the wiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter wasn't originally part of the plan. But as I started playing more of The Golden Deer route, I started to think a bit more and thought there should be a chapter about this.  
> Thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying it so far!  
> I'm enjoying writing it!


	4. A Writing Habit and Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aviana joins the Golden Deer House and takes notes endlessly, sometimes freaking out some people. However, what she says to some curious Blue Lions students cause her to become a deer in the headlights and in big trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter! Sorry it's been so long! I was procrastinating on fixing this chapter, but I finally got it done. I hope you guys enjoy and there's going to be much more!

Aviana started her studies within the next month. Alfonse told her that if the mission were to succeed, she would need to join whatever house Byleth was in. So, The Golden Deer it was. She was excited to join her classmates, but a part of her was also sad. She had the knowledge of what happened to Dimitri and Edelgard in this timeline and it weighed down on her heart and she looked depressed the first couple of days. She walked around the corridors with her head down and she was misty eyed whenever she came across people from the other classes. Dimitri and Edelgrad seemed as chipper as ever, making that much harder to deal with their demises. Many people asked if she was alright, including Claude, and she played it off as just missing home. 

If only they knew. 

She continued to make her rounds with the students; learning their names and what not. She also made sure to keep a notebook with her at all times. It was nothing special, the notebook. It had an unassuming and plain black cover to fend off any wandering eyes because it held the secrets of this world. To put it in even plainer terms, if Seteth were to see its contents, he would surely take it away.

Every time she learned something new about the students, professors or the other faculty that would change the timeline, she would write it down. Something off with the lessons? She wrote it down. A relationship not developing as it should have? She wrote it down and so forth. It made some uncomfortable as she kept unwavering eye contact as she was speaking. But that was not the unnerving part. Not only that but she could keep eye contact and write things down at the same time. One could only imagine being caught in her gaze as she was unflinchingly writing things down at the same time.

Students such as Mercedes and Annette were kind enough to not say anything about it though she knew they noticed. But others, such as Seteth and Leonie, either said something or straight up left. Perhaps with time they would become accustomed to her nervous presence and note taking. 

It took her almost a month, enough time for the Miklan mission to pass, before she was finally comfortable with most of the places in the monastery. She quickly fell into a routine of going to classes and taking all her free time to wander the monastery and become acquainted. It became a daily occurrence and some students asked if she wanted a wandering partner. But she declined due to the sensitive nature of her mission. She also learned many new things from Byleth including a bit of heavy armor skills and brawling skills. Perhaps these new skills would help her best Alfonse in a fight back home. The thought of winning using only her fists made her laugh.

One day while she was wandering, she came across the training grounds. It was bigger than she had anticipated. It was easily bigger than a basketball court she saw in her original home and there were weapons all around. Some were broken from multiple uses while others looked like they were bought from the market that day. Singed targets and shattered pots also adorned the walls and grounds. 

She came across an iron sword that was stuck in the sandy ground and a training dummy near it. The sword still looked usable, but the training dummy was in rough shape. She winced. Let’s just say it looked like Chrom had taken a swing or two at it: stuffing was hanging out of the softer parts and it was ridden with deep gashes. However, the decrepit state of the dummy didn’t deter Aviana from having her own go at it. She placed her notebook and writing utensil in her bag and took up the sword with two hands. 

“Ooh, that’s new.” she said when she first felt its full weight. The grip felt different in her hands than the swords in Askr. The material was different, and it felt as if it was already melded to the grip of another person. But after holding it in her hands for a couple minutes, she became so accustomed to the grooves of the grip and the weight of the metal in her hands it was as if she had been using it her whole life. By the time she was ready to swing, she wielded the sword with one hand. A devious smile crossed her face. 

“Ha!” she yelled as she swung at the training dummy. Within a few minutes, Aviana took many swings at the dummy damaging it even further. With her last mighty swing, she ripped the head clean off. Her eyes followed as it rolled across the training grounds and landed in the corner standing upright. 

“Ooops.” Aviana said a look of worry on her face, “I guess I’m stronger with the sword than I thought.” Aviana smiled. The thought of mastering the sword excited her. Could she finally be able to beat Alfonse at his own game? She giggled at the thought as she thrusted the sword back into the ground. She adjusted her bag around her shoulder and was about to leave when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

“That was amazing!” it said, “Where did you learn to fight like that?” 

She turned around to see Felix, Ingrid, Sylvain, and Dimitri all standing around the training grounds with mouths agape. The most surprised out of all of them seemed to be Felix who had a certain excitement in his eyes she knows she had seen before. Aviana’s face filled with a blush and heat radiated from her cheeks. Had they been watching the whole time? “D-did you see all that?” she asked, pointing at the training dummy, “I promise I’ll find a way to replace it.” 

Dimitri shook his head. “Do not worry yourself with tasks such as that.” He said, “It happens all the time. Come over here and chat with us for a while.” 

Aviana sheepishly walked over to the circle of friends and joined in. She looked at each of their faces and images flashed past her mind. She remembered reading about these students in the books back at Askr. They were childhood friends. No, they were more than that. Including Dedue, they were the survivors of The Tragedy of Duscur. Of course, many of them weren’t present at the time of the slaughter, but they were all connected by one death from it. Glenn. Brother to Felix, lover of Ingrid, and savior of Dimitri. As for Sylvain…well he had to watch his friends suffer and couldn’t do anything to stop their mindsets from being corrupted. Aviana averted her eyes for a moment thinking about the images of scorched battlefields and bloodied weapons before returning her gaze to the students. 

“I know you’ve probably met them already, but this is Ingrid, Sylvain Jose Gautier and-.” 

“Felix Hugo Fraldarius.” Aviana said excitedly finishing Dimitri’s sentence, “Heir to House Fraldarius. Isn’t your father in charge at the moment?” 

They all stood there in shocked silence. It wasn’t surprising she knew his first name, everybody knew it, but his whole name? That was something unheard of by people in remote regions. Especially the region which Aviana said she hailed from which barely had any connection with House Fraldarius. In fact, you might as well have called the region she “hailed from as part of the Empire it was so far removed from House Fraldarius. How on earth would someone from her region know about the going ons of House Fraldarius and its leader?

Aviana clapped a hand over her mouth quickly, finally realizing her error after a few agonizing minutes. She looked around at the stunned students, wondering if anyone was going to say something. Panic sweat beaded on her forehead and she could feel as a rock dropped into her stomach. 

“Yes, that is my name.” Felix said his eyes narrowed, “However, it’s funny how you know so much about me, yet I don’t have any recollection of ever meeting you in my life.” 

Aviana really did it this time and she couldn’t seem to find the words to say to back up her knowledge. She thought it was just common knowledge that House Fraldarius is run by Felix’s father. However, it was also common knowledge that the nobles and commoners barely knew each other before meeting at the monastery. They met maybe in passing within the continent, but before this year they barely knew each other. How was she supposed to explain herself now? “I-I read about you in a book.” Aviana said, stuttering, “Whenever we had money, I bought books on regions within The Kingdom and The Empire…to better prepare myself for the academy.” 

Felix’s gaze only became colder at her little explanation. “Uh huh.” he said, “I don’t ever recall a book being made on me, do you Sylvain?” 

“Cut it out, dude.” Sylvain said, “She was just excited to meet you and you’re squandering your opportunity. Especially with a pretty lady such as her.” Aviana blushed at his comments, but also mouthed a heartfelt thank you to the boy. He nodded in response and gave her a short wink before returning his gaze to his friends. 

“And I am Ingrid Brandl Galatea if anyone cares.” Ingrid said, sounding a bit defeated by the antics of the boys. Aviana nodded at her introduction, but her eyes were quite distant, and her mind was elsewhere. She could still feel the heat of her embarrassment as it flooded her cheeks and system. How on earth could she let herself screw up that badly? She might as well have came clean right then and there about not being from this world. So stupid! Shame burned in her cheeks as she thought about what Alfonse would say and what his expression would be. 

“Are you doing okay there, Aviana?” Dimitri asked waving a hand in front of her face to get her attention, “You seem a bit distant. You don’t need to feel embarrassed about Felix here. He’s usually that stand offish with everyone.” 

“You mean he’s a big jerk to everyone.” Sylvain said. 

“Why I oughta-.” Felix started. Ingrid quickly got in the middle of the two boys and pushed them away from each other with a hand on each of their chests. 

Aviana shook her head. She just had to get out of there and let herself cool down for a bit. “No, it’s fine.” She said already searching for the door, “I just remembered I hadn’t finished that assignment we were meant to do. If you’ll please excuse me.” She then walked to the door, shook herself off and left, leaving the four friends to stare at each other. 

They all shared the same narrowed eyes and doubting expression. They knew something was up with Aviana, but they were all too puzzled to place it. The training grounds stayed exceptionally quiet as none of them wanted to speak about the situation. The only noises came from the tournament head who was off in the corner enjoying his short lunch. 

Sylvain was the first to speak. “That was weird, right?” he asked, “Did no one else think that was weird?” A collective sigh was released in agreeance to Sylvain’s question. 

“Yes, it was.” Felix said, “There’s something off about her I don’t like at all.” 

Dimitri shifted uneasily. He wasn’t one to go off appearances alone. He liked to give people the benefit of the doubt especially before labeling them as someone with ill intent or suspicious behavior. Having a larger amount of knowledge about someone than normal didn’t prove anything except that she liked to read. Any person with access to the library could have figured out about Felix’s heritage. To put it simply he wasn’t convinced. 

“So, she knew about Felix’s lineage.” Dimitri said waving a hand, “What’s your point? We can’t place her in a category of suspicious individuals just because she likes to read.” 

“I think you’re missing the point.” Felix said, “She knows a lot more than she’s letting on. I’d even bet that she’s not from this world.” There was a long pause as everyone thought over what Felix said. In a world full of magic and goddesses and saints, it shouldn’t have been too far off that there are people from other worlds. But something about it was just too hard to grasp. Especially for Dimitri. How would she get here in the first place if that were the truth? 

“That’s not possible, is it?” Dimitri asked. “What evidence do you have to back up this claim?”

Felix sighed heavily. He didn’t call this guy the boar prince for nothing. He was stubborn and seemingly as thick as a boar too. Did he not see the evidence that was right in front of him? What more could he possibly want? Felix was about to say something he was going to regret before Ingrid stepped in with her own bit of knowledge. “I did hear her whispering about someone a bit earlier in the month.” Ingrid said, “Someone she or any other commoner shouldn’t know about.” 

“Who?” Dimitiri asked. 

“Glenn.” Ingrid said, shifting uncomfortably at the name. Another wave of silence washed over the students at the sound of the name. No one could doubt that that name shouldn’t have left the lips of any commoner. Word traveled fast in Faerghus, but not that fast. Dimitri was confused, as were the others, but he was still bent on giving her the benefit of the doubt. In his mind, there were ways to find out about the knights of the Kingdom throughout the years and she could have come across Glenn’s name in a book somewhere. 

He sighed heavily as he started to relay his thoughts to his friends. “Look, I have no reason to believe she has ill will against any of us.” He said and continued before Felix could say anything, “But to lessen the stress on everyone, I will meet up with the other house leaders and see what they think.” Everyone nodded in agreement, even Felix, before they left to go to the dining hall. 

Dimitri thought about all he had on his plate regarding Aviana and he couldn’t get her or her strange origins out of his mind for the rest of the night. When he finally drifted off to sleep the only thought that could calm him down was the meeting with the other house leaders.


	5. House Leaders Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Dimitri's suspicions grow, he schedules a meeting for the house leaders. They discuss Aviana and her true origins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write! I hope you enjoy!

It took two moons for Dimitri to get the other house leaders together. With Flayn going missing, he just thought it wasn’t the right time. However, this only made the others grow more suspicious of Aviana and he was growing more restless. 

His leg shook endlessly, shaking the table all around him as he waited. A single candle lit up his face and the dining room stood empty. He held his head in his hands as he anxiously waited for the other house leaders to arrive and stared down the doors. The hour was late, and Dimitri knew it was, but he thought this would be the only viable time since no one else would dare come out to the dining hall late at night. Everyone was too afraid ghosts would be lingering in the empty chairs or a stray dining hall staff member would kick them out or, even worse, Seteth would come kick them out and reprimand them. 

This matter, however, was too important to leave until morning. Dimitri shook his leg some more and waited for what felt like hours for the other two to come. When the time came, he could see as two floating candles followed by their holders entered the room from two different doors. Like Dimitri, they were still in their uniforms though they looked like they would rather be anywhere else. Both Edelgard and Claude looked dead tired as they sat down in front of him and set their candles down on the table, illuminating the hall a little more. Claude went so far as to even let out a yawn. 

Dimitri laughed. 

“So, how long did it take for you two to get Hubert and Hilda to calm down?” he asked jokingly, “Dedue was very insistent that he came with me tonight. But I managed to convince him to go to bed without me.” Claude laughed at his question while Edelgard sighed and pinched the area between her eyebrows. Judging by their answers, it probably proved more time consuming than the actual meeting. Dimitri had specifically told them not to tell anyone else, but he knew their retainers or closest friends would find out without even having to talk. Hubert was perceptive as were Hilda and Dedue. 

“Don’t get me started.” Edelgard sighed, “What did you want to talk about this late at night, Dimitri?” 

Claude yawned again as he leaned back in his seat. “Yeah, what was so important that you couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning?” he asked, half awake, “You looked pretty worried as well. Is everything alright?” 

Dimitri stared down at his twiddling thumbs as a million thoughts ran through his head. How was he supposed to lay it all out on the table to the other house leaders? His suspicion was growing daily of this girl from some common far off village no one had heard about. But how was he supposed to articulate that without sounding like a complete mad man? As his thoughts grew longer and more complex the other house leaders stared at him expectantly. Claude even sat up in his chair as his worry grew for the young prince. His eyebrows furrowed to the top of his forehead as he began to examine Dimitri’s face. What was he hiding exactly? 

Dimitri sighed. “Have you noticed anything different about Aviana?” Dimitri asked, finally coming out and saying it. Edelgard and Claude looked at him with confusion. They wondered what could have brought on such a strange question. They thought about it for a minute and the longer they did, they began to notice strange occurrences of other students coming up to them about Aviana. In fact, the other day, Bernadetta came up to Edelgard with questions about her. She could recall Bernadetta, who never could calm down around anyone, saying that she was pleasant to be around and a good person all around. It was odd that Aviana could put her so at ease. 

“Now that you say something, I do recall the other students having concerns about her.” Edelgard said, “Why? What happened? What did she do?” 

Dimitri waved his hands in front of him. “Oh, she did nothing wrong it’s just…” Dimitri said trailing off on his sentences. 

“It’s just that you’re wondering if she poses a threat or not?” Claude asked with a sigh. Just that day, Seteth came up to him to ask about her. Ever since Flayn had been abducted, Seteth had been checking all of his boxes to make sure no one of dubious origin was in the monastery. Since Aviana had come so late in the year, she was at the top of his list.

“Yes, exactly.” Dimitri said pointing in Claude’s direction, “Have you noticed anything out of place with her, Claude? I figured since she’s in your class, you would have more of an input.” 

Claude shook his head. “No, not really.” Claude said, “She studies harder than everyone in the class and she gets along great with the other students. She also seems to have found a way around Lorenz’s…unique…personality. Not to mention her prowess in magic and swordsmanship is astounding. People have been wondering where she learned to do half the things she’s showed. But nothing out of the ordinary.” 

Dimitri sighed again. This wasn’t helping him to get to the end of this mystery. What did Felix see in her that made him say such a thing as “another world?” It didn’t make sense. 

Edelgard waved her hand in front of Dimitri to get him to focus on the conversation again. “I have a feeling you’re not telling us everything, Dimitri.” Edelgard said, slightly annoyed, “What’s going on?” 

Dimitri sighed again. “Felix said something that’s been on my mind for a while.” Dimitri said, “He said that she could be from another world. It doesn’t make sense.” 

“What?” Claude said leaning over the table to look at Dimitri. Was he thinking straight? How much sleep was he missing out on a night? 

Edelgard shook her head in disbelief. It didn’t seem possible for there to be separate worlds other than the one they were in. Of course, there were the heavens, but that didn’t seem like the “other world” Felix could have been talking about. She wracked her brain for possible answers, but every conclusion came to be a dead end and seemed to be beyond the realm of possibilities. “What made Felix think she was from another world?” Edelgard asked, “What do you think she knows exactly?”

Dimitri, for the first time, looked into the eyes of his fellow house leaders across from him. “Everything.” Dimitri finally admitted, “Our pasts, our presents, our futures. She seems to know everything about us. As if she has been studying us. Ingrid even said she could hear her muttering about Glenn one day.” 

Claude and Edelgard stayed silent for a moment and met each other’s eyes. They didn’t know much about the knights in service to Dimitri at the time, but they knew about the Tragedy of Duscur. They also knew that there should have been no way to learn about the knights’ names except for some obscure book that was very rare to get a hold of. Aviana had said before that her father was a shady merchant, but was it possible that her father could have gotten a hold of that book in particular? It was still a viable answer. 

Claude went with this route. “It’s possible she learned about Glenn in a book.” Claude said, “She’s a very studious person and I know for a fact that she’s not above sneaking around at night, looking for possible leads and banned books. She hasn’t done anything to warrant my distrust.” He leaned back again and stared up at the dark ceiling. He still wasn’t sure on his own stance.

Edelgard sighed. “I don’t know.” She said. 

They sat in sustained silence for a minute or two, listening to the wind blow through the empty dining hall. For a moment, Dimitri swore he could hear footsteps just outside the opened door. He looked at the candles on the table in front of him. They’d melted almost all the way down to the bottom signaling it’s been an hour or two. They all had been there for a long time. “So, what’s our conclusion?” Dimitri asked, grabbing the attention of the house leaders again, “Is she a threat, or isn’t she?” 

Once again, Claude sat up. “Until she does something super tragic, we can’t prove anything.” He said, “But can we all come to the agreement we all need to keep our eyes open around her?” 

Edelgard and Dimitri nodded. “Yes, and let’s agree that we need to keep this as contained as possible, so only tell who you need to.” Edelgard said, looking at the two boys with her. Everyone shared a nod with each other before they got up and went to their rooms. 

Dimitri’s mind was still running. They weren’t going to do anything yet because she hasn’t done anything truly terrible, but he was wondering if that was the right decision. Even as he watched his acquaintances disappear into their rooms, he was still thinking. 

Was this truly the right choice or were they putting everyone in danger by letting her roam free?


	6. A Feathery Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long day of being questioned by Claude left Aviana exhausted. But thankfully a feathery friend brings good news.

Aviana sighed as she closed the door behind her and leaned up against it. She had a close call with Claude today. He started to ask her all these questions about her origins and her father. At one point she almost mentioned her favorite food back in Askr and her favorite heroes, both of which would be completely unknown to the young student. Of course, Claude raised an eyebrow at her mistake, and he asked about it. 

Aviana knew she was in deep when she could see the wheels in Claude’s head turning. He always got this curious look in his eyes when he thought he had a lead with something. And based on the conversation she overheard in the dining hall that night, Aviana knew all of the house leaders were on high alert. However, it was still unclear of whether members of the staff, or even worse, Rhea had been notified of the situation. When Aviana finally realized her blunder and finally noticed that look in his eyes, she tried to change the subject to no avail. Claude was just that persistent. 

She ended up running like a coward and that’s how she ended up back in her room, exhausted and a mess. She was still panting, and her throat had run dry. Sweat beaded on her head from the vigorous exercise and she could feel it as it ran down her back. Guess she had to change uniforms today after all. When she got a hold of herself, she checked to make sure she didn’t leave anything behind in her grand escape. Her notebook was still in her bag along with various other pages she had ripped out of banned books or taken a copy of from professors’ desks. While rummaging around and staring at various notes, she started to think about all the bad things she had done since she’d been there. 

Not only has she spied on the students and gossiped about others to stir the pot, she had stolen pages from the library and taken students’ things to leave around the monastery for Byleth to find. Hell, she’d even hidden a picture of The Immaculate One, something she had brought from Aksr, for Claude to find and she knew Seteth had confiscated it by now. It all felt wrong. But then again, were her missions, ever right? She always had to end up killing someone or deceiving crowds of people in her quest to serve Askr. Maybe stealing and lying were all just casualties of her mission. 

She stood there for a minute more before she heard tapping on the door. Dread filled her body at the thought of Claude being on the other side. What would she say to him about running off like that? How do you explain a sudden urge to run away from someone asking you questions like that? She’ll say he had just simply overwhelmed her with the information and questions being thrown at her all at once. But that wasn’t a good cover up at all. It only made her look more suspicious. Even though she didn’t have a well-crafted plan yet, she knew she would have to open the door sometime. 

She sighed as she turned around and pulled open her door. She prepared herself to see a human form in front of her but was surprised to see…no one. No one stood in front of her or was even close enough to her door to make it a ding dong ditch. Was someone pulling her leg or purposefully putting her on edge? Did one of the nearby students throw something at her door or were they using magic? She looked around for a long time, confusion deep in her eyes. 

Then all of a sudden, she heard a soft cooing sound beneath her. It was soft but it wasn’t distant. “Fehhh down here!” a familiar high-pitched voice said. Aviana looked down and nearly jumped out of her skin. It was the little owl everyone loved in Askr, Feh. The poor thing looked exhausted and was heavily panting. Aviana’s eyes went wide and she panicked. She couldn’t let anyone see a talking owl in front of her door and she was worried sick someone would start questioning why one of the carrier owls was so well behaved or why she was there at all. Sure, she looked like any normal owl around Garreg Mach, but the thing was that she was ten times smaller and carrying a note in her mouth unlike the others. 

“Are you out of your mind, Feh?!” Aviana asked in a hushed whisper, “If anyone sees you here, it could mean big trouble!” Aviana whisked the owl away into her room and set her on a nearby desk before slamming the door shut and locking it behind her. She grabbed some water from a makeshift water bottle and poured it into a bowl she had lying around. She gently set in front of Feh who gladly took a drink from it.

“Feehhh.” She sighed, “That was quite a journey Alfonse had me take. I’ve been flying for an hour to find you. We have news!” 

Aviana sat down on her bed and listened intently to what Feh had to say. “What is it?” she asked, “Are the rest of them alright? They’re not hurt, are they?” 

“No, no.” Feh said, causing Aviana to breathe a sigh of relief, “Nothing like that. Alfonse and Zacharias have been successful in spreading rumors in the Empire and they’re good and riled up. Anna has been talking to her sister here and they’ve been secretly buying and selling expensive weapons as well as poisons and medicines. And Veronica and Sharena have been carefully checking the history books to make sure everything is going to plan. What about you here?” 

Aviana’s mind was going a mile a minute because of all the information she was receiving. She couldn’t believe in just a couple of months; her friends have been able to make that much of an impact. It was amazing what people could do when there was a world at stake. As for her, she felt she hadn’t been doing much except for prowling and plotting sketchy schemes. But that was a vital part of the mission, right? “I haven’t been doing much except for directing relationships, planting things in the right locations, and making sure everyone stays calm until the war has to happen.” She admitted. 

Feh cooed cheerfully. “Good, that’s exactly what we want!” Feh said, “Keep those tensions rising!” 

Aviana looked to the side for a moment to process all this. This was really happening. They were starting a war in a place that wasn’t even their own. She just couldn’t get over how wrong this felt, especially since they weren’t even on their own soil. Every day she thought about it like clockwork. She would get up in the morning, look at her schedule, and dread the coming day because she would have to destroy lives and mental states. And who knows if everything will work out in the end. She had the fate of the world in her hands and she knew it. She had the ultimate say of who lives, who dies, and who goes on to tells the stories of Byleth and Claude. It was frightening to say the least. 

“Ummmm, Aviana are you okay?” Feh asked waving a feathered wing in front of her face.

Aviana shook her head violently and tuned back into what Feh had to say. “No, everything’s fine.” Aviana said, “Just thinking.” 

Feh let out a heavy sigh and her expression changed from cheerful to saddened and worried. She flew over to Aviana’s lap and snuggled her head into her stomach. “I know this is a lot to take on.” She said, “But you have to keep reminding yourself that this is the way it has to be. It’s not much help, but we honestly don’t have any choice in the matter. We have to make sure history is correct or we’ll have another Lif situation on our hands.” 

Aviana visibly cringed at Lif’s name. He was a hero now in Aksr which was deeply unsettling to her and the rest of the heroes. He was a reminder of all the things they couldn’t save and a warning to never let history get out of line ever again. So, yes, she knew they had to fix it, but that didn’t make it any less painful. Aviana gave Feh a pat on the head. “So, was there anything else I needed to know?” Aviana asked allowing the bird to settle back down on the desk. 

“Oh, yes!” Feh said, “Alfonse wants you to meet him in the forest outside Garreg Mach tonight. He has a couple things he needs to tell you in person! He even gave me this note.” 

She took the note from the owl and carefully unfolded. She carefully read the time and the place they were to meet before folding it back up again. She smiled. The longing she felt to finally be back in Alfonse’s arms again was unimaginable and she was happy to have the opportunity again. She got up and rummaged through the chest next to her. All of her things from her first mission here were still there so sneaking out should be no problem. “Sounds great!” she said. She was about to say something else were it not for a knock on the door that startled them both. 

On the other side of the door, Claude was lightly pressing his ear against it. He swore he could hear another voice in there with Aviana and it was puzzling. He didn’t know anyone with that high of a voice. Not even Bernadetta could reach that octave. But what was he doing outside of Aviana’s room in the first place? After Aviana had ran off so abruptly, he thought it would be best to check up on her. Of course, he was still highly suspicious of her, but the sweat that poured down her face while he was questioning her left him to believe there was something wrong with her.

Claude laughed a bit at the thought. There was something wrong with her, but he was talking about the physical ailments not her behavior. “Aviana!” he called again while slightly rapping his knuckles against the door, “You in there! I was kind of concerned with how you ran off so quickly. Just wanted to know if you were okay.” After a few minutes of waiting and a check of the pocket watch that definitely wasn’t in his pocket, the doors started to slowly open.

Aviana finally revealed herself, her hair slightly disheveled and her papers messily stacked in her arms. “You wanted to see me?” she asked, her voice raspy from being out of breath. Claude gave her a quizzical and concerned look as he put his hands down by his side. Now this was weird. It looked like she was in a fight with a bear, but there was no bear or animal to be seen. He tried to look around her and into her room, but she was quick. With each move he made, she made it at twice the speed. 

“You looking for something?” she asked immediately taking the defensive. 

“No.” Claude said slowly, “I was just wondering if you were feeling okay. You seemed pretty freaked out when I was talking to you earlier.” Claude bit his tongue when it came to his suspicions. He didn’t want her to know just how much he knew if it was anything at all. That would just blow the house leaders’ cover. 

Aviana nodded her head vigorously. “Yes, I’m fine.” She said, “You?” 

Claude was slightly surprised by the reversal of the question on him. He raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened. “Oh yeah, I’m fine.” He said, a sheepish smile on his face, “Actually, I was in the infirmary this morning because of a mixture of plants that turned explosive and poisonous. But don’t worry about me. Manuela patched me right up.” 

He added that last part while waving his hands in response to the absolute look of horror that crossed Aviana’s face. However, he would be lying if he said her caring face didn’t cause his heart to skip a beat. He always had a typical fondness toward her though he had heard she had a lover back home. But everyone seemed to be falling for her these days. He swore he even saw Hubert blush at her once though they’re not on the best of terms.

Aviana laughed joyously and gave Claude a loving smile. Claude’s face filled with heat at the sight of it. “Well, I’m glad you’re alright.” She said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have to go to the library. Have to study a lot for the next test. I heard it was on flying. My absolutely worst subject.” With her last words, Aviana moved past Claude and left on her merry way. His eyes followed her until she completely disappeared from view. 

Now he was even more confused. How could someone so nice and caring possibly harbor any ill will toward…anyone really? The way she pranced around the monastery, the way her voice rang out through the halls so melodically, the way she looked at someone with such kindness regardless of origin or past. All of it didn’t add up to someone who wished to do harm. Right?   
He was just so confused which frustrated him to no end. He just wanted answers and closure for the things going on.

He turned back to Aviana’s room to see that she had not closed the door all the way. He stared at it for a minute before curiosity got the better of him and he peered inside. In the small bit of light given off by the opened door it seemed normal. Books and maps were carefully laid out on her bed, papers were in every corner, and there was the slight scent of rose and mint that hung in the air. Actually it looked a lot like Linhardt’s room with how messy it was. But there was one thing in particular that caught Claude’s eye more than anything else. 

There on the desk laid a single feather that looked to be from an owl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a new chapter! Sorry for how long it took me to update. This summer was soooo busy and I barely had the mental capacity to write by the end of my work days. But I'm back now. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter because of the different perspectives. I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!


	7. A Glow in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfonse adds more to Aviana's already huge task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! A new chapter! I was really happy with this one though I'll have to change the chapter title. I hope you enjoyed reading it and the story so far! Thank you for reading!

Aviana clutched the hood around her head with one hand while she held a small lantern out in front of her with the other. The night was dark, and it seemed like all the living creatures have run off or gone to bed, leaving her completely alone. The only sounds that were made was the ground crunching beneath her feet and the wind whistling through the trees.   
Perhaps that’s what scared her the most. Who knows if someone was lurking in the trees or the bushes? What if the leaders followed her out here and they were just really good at hiding? But there was no such thing as an invisibility spell, right? Besides, what magic would any of them harbor in order to produce such a spell? Anxiety rushed through her body so much that though it was cold, she could feel a thin film of sweat form on her back and her forehead. 

She wandered a bit more in the forest, carefully looking at the descriptions Alfonse had given her, before she finally found a small hole in the side of a cliff. There was a small, manmade wooden board in front of it that barely stopped the light from seeping under it. She sighed slightly by the negligence. She looked around. By the looks at of it, they were somewhat close to Zanado, but not too close as to alarm the Knights of Seiros. She could see the outlines of broken structures in the distance, but it wasn’t so close that she could make out tiny details.

She smiled. Good thinking, Alfonse. Put a hide away exactly where they weren’t expecting it. There was a reason why she married him. 

At first, Aviana was cautious of small cave and though she was fairly certain that it was Alfonse, there was a part of her that thought it was some homeless wanderer who had somehow heard Alfonse or seen the directions. She inched closer ever so slightly and made sure her shoes made as little sound as possible. She held the lantern tightly in her hand though the wind was vicious tonight. Even when the light went out in the latern, she kept her cool as to not alert the person. Everything was going as planned until a strong gust of wind blew her hood back so violently it made her gasp and she stumbled back a couple steps. 

She quickly slapped a hand across her mouth, just in case. The occupant of the cave stirred, and she could hear as they got up and brandished…something. “Who’s there?!” it called, “I’m armed and not afraid!” 

Tears slipped from Aviana’s eyes and she ripped the embroidered mask off her face. “Alfonse!” she called back, “It’s me! Aviana!” 

Alfonse came barreling out of the cave when he heard her voice. The face he gave Aviana was a mixture of relief, surprise, and love. “My love.” He whispered. They both dropped whatever they were holding and ran into each other’s arms. Aviana cried as she ran her fingers through his soft hair and Alfonse buried his face into her shoulder wanting to take in the sweet scent he had always loved. A mixture between rose and mint. “I’ve missed you so much, my dear Alfonse.” Aviana whispered, not wanting to ever let go of him. 

“I’ve missed you too.” Alfonse said, tempted to cry himself. 

When they pulled apart, they gave a short laugh before they picked up their things, went into the cave and settled down. Aviana sat down while Alfonse fixed the covering back on the cave. From this angle Aviana couldn’t help but take a peek at his body. She could tell that he was just as muscular as ever, even with all that armor, but there was something different about him. She noticed his hair was now long enough to be put in a short ponytail at the back of his head. It was cute, she’d have to admit. She felt the big bun on the back of her head and sighed. Everyone seemed to be getting long, luscious locks this time around.

Alfonse sighed as he sat down across from her, the small fire illuminated both of their faces. Alfonse gestured to a pot of tea he had set up next to Aviana. “I hope your journey wasn’t too long.” Alfonse said, “I made some tea to take the bite of the chill away.” 

Aviana took a sip of tea and instantly melted. “Chocolate mint.” She said, “Wherever did you find this?”

“I found some in town.” Alfonse said, “It was surprisingly easy to find a merchant that was experimenting with different flavors. Let me tell you some of the flavors in there were wild. I believe they would have been more akin to your world than Askr.” 

Aviana smiled at his kindness, a blush spreading across her face. “I can’t believe you remembered that story.” Aviana said, looking at Alfonse fondly. 

Though the light of the fire was orange, Aviana could still see the deep blush set in Alfonse’s face. “How could I ever forget?” he asked a hand behind his head. 

A deep silence ensued for a couple minutes as Aviana thought of his kind gestures. He truly was the kindest man she had ever met. She quickly reached in her pocket for a tiny, cloth bag tied together by a gold ribbon. The fabric of the cloth bag was something Mercedes bought from the market for their project and the contents was something Aviana had made by herself. She took Alfonse’s hand and gently placed the bag in it. He was slightly confused, but once he opened it, a bright smile lit up his face. 

“Chocolate!” he said already grabbing one, “It looks like the stuff from Askr. How did you find that all the way out here?” 

Aviana shrugged. “Well, to be honest I didn’t.” she said, “The recipe and the ingredients are slightly different. But I hope that didn’t change the flavor too much.” 

“Not at all.” Alfonse said through a stuffed face, “It’s really good.” 

Aviana laughed for a moment. It was good to know that the boyish wonder he used to have still dwelled in him somewhere. He didn’t really show it to many people save for her and a couple others. She was glad she was privy to that part of him and it felt like it was just a gift for her. The part of him that loves sweets and soft things. The part of him that loves to cuddle and could spend hours on a picnic blanket surrounded by the tallest sunflowers. The part of him that was all her own. Of course, the fact that she wanted to keep it all to herself made her selfish. But she didn’t care. 

Alfonse wiped the chocolate off his face with his sleeve before he started in on a map that he neatly unfolded in front of him. As Aviana looked closer, she noticed little scribbles of various different hand writings on it. She recognized Sharena’s, Captain Anna’s, and even Princess Veronica’s. It was unorganized, but at the same time perfectly understandable. They were working off each other by combining their notes and coming to one perfect conclusion. It was…odd to say the least. 

“So, we have a number of things we need to do.” Alfonse said, pulling out a piece of parchment paper, “If you look at the notes on the map, some of the history books are reflecting futures that don’t add up. Things like Claude dying on the battlefield in the future and relationships that didn’t go according to plan because of personality clashes.” 

Aviana shook her head confused. “And what would you like me to do?” she asked, “How can I change that?” 

Alfonse sighed as he reread the list. He had this look in his eyes, a look Aviana knew very well. It was the look he always gave when she knew he was going to say or do something she didn’t like. In this case it was very likely she had to do more damage than good. 

“The things on this list.” Alfonse said finally handing it to her. 

She took the list from him and immediately started to pore over the contents. The requests were weird and seemed like things she would never do in a million years or a thousand universes. Some of the highlights included double crossing some of the kids from the Black Eagles house, proving that you’re a threat, bullying some of the students, and becoming defiant against Byleth. Her eyes grew wider at every word and she was now looking between Alfonse and the notes rapidly. It just didn’t make sense. He wanted her to build relationships with these kids and now he wants her to destroy them? What? 

“You can’t be serious.” She said. When she saw him avert his eyes to the side in a regretful way she gasped. “You’re absolutely serious on this!” she said, “I can’t be expected to do this! People are already suspicious of me as it is. This shit right here will make me public enemy number one! Is this what you want?” 

Alfonse sighed once more. He looked at her with sympathy and tenderness. “I know it’s a lot and you’re really putting yourself out there doing this, but it has to be done. We have no other way.” 

Aviana thought once more. Was it really possible to pull off this much in only a short amount of time? They were already so close to the end. She thought about what month was coming next in a calendar Alfonse had given her. This month they’re supposed to go help out with the cases of insanity in Remire Village. Next month was… 

“Oh my gods.” She whispered a hand over her mouth, “You want me to do this when Jeralt is supposed to die next month? Do you know what kind of upheaval that would cause? Seteth would not let me out of his sight!” 

Alfonse shushed her, worried that the sound of her voice would carry throughout the forest. He understood the trouble they were putting her in, he really did, and he wanted to change it, but the heroes back in Askr and the rest of the crew are telling him that history is still not right. Not only that but the history relies on that upheaval in their academy days before the war starts. They needed that suspicion to grow in order to get to the breaking point in both Byleth’s and Claude’s stories. In other words, his hands were completely tied. 

When he started this mission, he didn’t think about the inner turmoil it would cause and the effect it would have on Aviana. Looking at her now, he realized it. She had started to care for these students and these professors as if they were members of the Order of Heroes already. Also, the unmistakable look was in her eyes again, the look she got whenever she wanted to save everyone and would absolutely put her life down for them. He was so afraid of this. He had always hoped that none of these fears of his would come to fruition, but he knew her too well. 

“Aviana, listen to me.” He said focusing her gaze on his, “I am sorry. I really am. I don’t know how to tell you how much I regret putting you into this situation. I knew your big heart and dreams and I threw you in here anyway. I am truly sorry for that. If you don’t want to continue the mission, I would completely understand.” 

Aviana gave a short but breathy laugh. “What are you talking about?” she asked in a hushed and sharp tone, “That’s absurd. I will be able to finish this mission. I know what has to be done. And don’t think for a second that all of this is your fault. I chose to do this mission and it was my choice alone. Don’t apologize. And I will always love you no matter the outcome of this mission.” She said that last bit by giving him a kiss on the forehead. 

She got closer to Alfonse, who gladly embraced her, and they started to kiss in the light of the fire. He tasted sweet because of the chocolates and his lips were as warm as the sun. She gladly melted into his embrace and could feel herself leaving this plane of existence. Words could not explain how good it was to know he would always be by her side. She knew Alfonse had no ill intent and she also knew he had already read her like a book. Curse her open emotions.

In this moment, when she was kissing him so passionately, she felt as if there was nothing that could separate them, and they would be as strong as this forever. Not even dreams could keep them apart. 

They broke the kiss quickly and looked at each other. Both were glowing in the dimming light. A smile spread on both of their faces as they took in each other’s images once more before they both had to depart for their long journeys. “I love you.” Aviana whispered. 

Alfonse laughed. “And I you.” he said, “We have to get going, my love.” 

Aviana sighed as she stood up from her seat and threw her hood over her face once more and fized the mask to her face. She helped Alfonse extinguish the fire before they both gave each other one last peck and the cheek and left. Both of them disappeared into the night, praying to every god that no one saw them.


	8. Byleth's Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Aviana gets herself in more trouble, her professor and Seteth have a few choice words to say to her.

A month or so passed as so did the death of Jeralt. Gloom hung in the air like the fog and everyone was tiptoeing around each other as if they were walking on eggshells. Aviana stayed as strong as she could while carrying out the tasks Alfonse had given her, but it was eating at her heart every single day. She had to bully Marianne and make her stand up for herself. She had to yell at Linhardt and betray the trust of every Black Eagle student she met. She could remember as tears sprang from Ashe’s eyes as she told him that Lonato was never coming back and he needed to get a hold of himself. Sometimes she went to her room and cried until she fell to sleep and other nights, she just wandered the halls aimlessly like a ghost.

There were some good things. Like telling Ignatz it was okay to let go and knocking Lorenz down a peg. However, all the bad she did ultimately out shadowed the good and of course none of it went unnoticed. Professors were on high alert and she swore she could see Seteth around every corner especially at night when she was going to bed. He followed her like the dreary and dark shadow of regret that was already following her. 

As for Byleth. She was in mourning for a long time. Who wouldn’t be? But with that mourning came an unbridled rage whenever they met eyes. Aviana could also sense blood lust in her eyes as if she was on the brink of murdering her where she stood every time they shared the same room. 

She soon became the living embodiment of panic with Dimitri slowly going mad, Edelgard and Hubert keeping an annoyingly close eye on her, and Claude…dear Claude…shooting daggers at her from across the room. Every time someone came near her, she shivered in surprise as if they were only passing by her to stick a knife in her back. When someone touched her shoulder or back to pass behind her, she tensed up as if there was ill intent. Most times, there was no ill intent, but she could never be too sure. 

Aviana never thought she would be this scared in her life. She dealt with seeing her own husband as a shell of a man! So why did this scare her so much? Maybe it was because no one knew her true intentions. If she could just explain or talk about what she was doing maybe…just maybe they would understand. She bit the tip of her thumb so hard it started to bleed. As she thought about it, explaining things might only make things fuzzier and more unstable. 

She laughed a dark laugh as she stared at the parchment before her. How do you explain to three unhinged and murderous leaders…no…houses that she only meant to destroy the future of two and save future of one? You don’t. Plain and simple. You don’t. No one would understand. She didn’t even know if she understood. 

She glared holes through the parchment laid on her desk as she tried to pay attention to what Byleth was saying. Even as she talked, her voice was monotone and soft. Nothing like it had been in the last few months after she had found the will to smile. Aviana looked up from her parchment. Byleth’s eyes were shining with unshed tears and her mouth was one thin line as it had been before she had gained her emotions. It was sad at the least and devastating at the most. Aviana, herself, tried her best not to cry seeing her professor so broken. 

She looked around the room and there was an obvious tension. All the students were on high alert as if the person next to them would be an enemy. There was also a sense of shock and…something. She couldn’t think a proper word, but it was a mixture of heart wrenching sadness and regret at the same time. 

Her eyes panned the room once more, until she fell upon Claude who was sitting right next to her and staring at her. Her body tensed up and a small sound escaped her before she quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. His eyes weren’t menacing, exactly, but colder and calculating. It was as if he was asking himself what her true intentions truly were. He also looked like he was debating with himself whether or not she was a threat. 

For the first time in a while, she attempted to talk to him. She wrote down a quick “you okay?” on a piece of parchment before ripping it off the grander page. Without looking at him and with a deep blush on her face, she handed him the paper. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see as a look of deep confusion came across his face before his eyes turned toward the paper. He gave a short laugh and scribbled something down. He handed it to Aviana, giving her a quick squeeze in the process. 

With fear deep in her eyes and soul, she opened the note. In perfect handwriting it said, “Don’t worry about me. You should worry about yourself. Teach and Seteth are highly suspicious of you.” She sighed as she felt a huge weight get lifted off her heart and her shoulders. Out all the people in this world, at least he didn’t hate her. She wouldn’t know what she would do if he did. 

As soon as she released her sigh, Byleth released the class. “You are all dismissed except for Aviana,” she said. “I wish to speak with you for a moment if you would.” 

Panic overtook her form again as her eyes grew wide and she started to shake. A fear she had felt all month overtook her once again. Claude winked at her and whispered something she would only realize later was ‘good luck’ before he got up and left as well. With all the students gone, it was now just her and the professor in the room. Dead silence covered them both as Aviana slowly got out of her seat and made her way to the front. As she got closer to her professor, she realized there was nothing for her to defend herself in case Byleth decided to attack. No spell books were near, and weapons weren’t allowed in the classroom. 

Sweat beaded on her forehead. 

Byleth wouldn’t do that, would she? Sure, she was unhinged and sad beyond belief, but she wouldn’t try to kill a supposed student, right?

Right? 

She stopped right in front of Byleth who in turn glared at her glistening face and shaky nature. “Calm down,” Byleth said. “I did not make you stay after class to kill you.”

Aviana let out a small laugh that was almost sarcastic. “Well, that’s a relief,” she said her heart still doing somersaults. 

Byleth narrowed her eyes and Aviana tensed up once more. Byleth was surprised. She had never seen a student tense up as much as she did in her presence. The only ones who were ever afraid of her, truly afraid, were her enemies. The way that this girl tensed up…does that make her an enemy as well? “I’ve seen you around the monastery doing…inexcusable things,” Byleth said a bite to her voice. 

Aviana noticed the bite, and she realized…it was accusatory. Of course, all the things she was talking about were true, but Aviana didn’t want to do them. Why was she getting defensive all of a sudden if she knew they were true? “I don’t know what you mean, professor,” Aviana said plainly, her shaking ceasing and regaining her composure. “Could you please elaborate?” 

Byleth rushed her and got really close to her, anger prominent in her eyes. “Don’t pull that with me,” She said her voice a deadly whisper. “Students and professors have all been telling me that you’ve been acting cruelly to them and trying to turn them against each other. I don’t know what you’re planning but I swear to the goddess if you hurt my students you will have to deal with me, and you don’t want to deal with me. Do I make myself clear?” 

Aviana became cold with her eyes steely and her back straightened like a board. This was a threat she could not take lightly. Byelth held the power of The Sword of the Creator, a power beyond hers and she knew she was sorely outmatched. It didn’t mean she was going to stop what she was doing altogether, it just meant she was going to be a lot more careful with it.  
With her tone dark she replied to her professor’s threat. “Crystal.” 

Byleth narrowed her eyes once again before she waved her hand and dismissed her student. Aviana nodded, gathered her things, and walked out of the classroom. 

Once she got outside, she realized how nervous she had been. The sweat that had been there from the very beginning was now soaking her uniform. The shakiness in her hands hadn’t stopped even though she was out of Byleth’s line of sight. The paper she held in her hand was all but a crunched-up ball now. Who knew a glare from Byleth of all people could silence her into submission? Usually Alfonse could only do that. She blushed at the thought as she walked around the monastery once more. 

She checked her bag before she got too far from the classroom to make sure everything was there. Her notebook was still secure in the secret pocket sewn into the bag. The most important papers were hidden away and her writing utensils, broken and brand new, were still in a little pouch. She sighed in relief. Everything was still there and that was good. No one had pulled a fast one on her while she had her back turned. 

“You are always looking through that bag of yours,” a familiar voice said behind her. “What is it that is so important in there?” 

Fear struck her heart once again and she could feel her body tense up for the umpteenth time that day. She was going to need a serious round of stretching to get all the knots out. That voice was unmistakable. It was so different, so unique, so frightening…that it made her shake.

She turned around slowly and carefully and there he was. 

Tall, towering, strong, and very capable of taking her out with a single blow. 

Seteth. 

“Some things are better left unsaid,” she said coolly trying not to show how terrified she was. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Seteth?” 

She heard Seteth heave a heavy sigh and saw as he pinched the area between his eyes as if she was dancing on his last nerve. Perhaps…she was dancing on his last shred of decency to not outright kill her right there. Imagine the commotion but imagine the peace that would follow if she died. There would be no doubt in her mind that most of the school would be celebrating. However, that would also mean there would be no way to fix the history they would make. But he didn’t know that, now did he? 

“Do not play coy with me, Aviana, you are on your last warning,” he said his tone dark. “Do not think that the professor and I haven’t been talking about your…antics.”

She tried not to let the fear show through her eyes and body language as he said those words. Was he about to kick her out of the monastery? Could this one interaction jeopardize their whole entire mission? She could already see the looks of absolute disappointment and dread as Alfonse and the others realized they were helpless to save history…and it would all be her fault. It was so close to the war phase too! 

She didn’t know what to do so she continued to act like she didn’t know what he was talking about. “What ever could you mean,” she asked shaking her head slowly. 

Seteth got up right next to her and nearly whispered in her ear. “It means that if you try to so much as lay a finger on Flayn or any other student, I will make sure of it that you are tried with the highest form of treason and I don’t care that you are a student,” he said his voice barely a whisper. “I am very protective of my sister so you should know that I am not joking around and neither is Lady Rhea or the rest of the staff at this monastery. Do you understand?” 

She heard the hiss in his voice as he talked and a deep guttural sound, she was unfamiliar with hearing from him. She gulped down a lump that had formed in her throat. It was almost as if he was spitting words and setting them in stone at the same time. Had this sealed her fate? If not that it undoubtedly made her job a lot harder than it needed to be. Out of all the things they talked about, they sadly forgot to talk about how to deal with the response and backfire from both staff and students. Dear gods, how could they forget? 

For a moment, she was frozen to the spot, unsure of what her next move would be. But she soon realized something that would shut Seteth up. 

“Yes,” she said, and he started to walk away, “Sister my ass.” The last part was said in a volume to where only Seteth could hear her as he walked away. 

These last few words prompted them to turn toward each other and stare each other down. Fear was in Seteth’s eyes this time as he took in exactly what this meant if she knew this information. Aviana’s face was stone cold, but she was rejoicing on the inside.

As they stared each other down, they both knew exactly what this meant. It meant that Seteth had fodder to get rid of Aviana, but he also didn’t. She hasn’t done anything to warrant any serious punishment…yet, so they couldn’t get rid of her just yet. Getting rid of her would also mean Seteth would have to come clean to everybody about what his and Flayn’s relationship really was. He would have to oust himself and the rest of their family and finally tell the whole world what their true origins were. However, he didn’t want to do that because of the danger he would put Flayn, Lady Rhea, and the rest of their family in. 

She presented him with a double-edged sword. 

Swing one way and you get hit. Swing the other way and you are met with the same fate. 

She relished in seeing him gape and stutter like a fish. 

A short smile danced across her lips before she bowed a deep bow with one arm on her stomach and the other arm straight out. 

“Have a good day, Seteth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was soooo much fun to write. I love writing intense scenes and finding ways to build the tension in the series. I hoped you enjoyed that last bit as much as I did! Thanks for reading!


	9. To War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An arrow was shot. But was it love or hate?

“Okay, okay, okay,” Aviana said as she ran out of her room. “Edelgard set the place ablaze, everyone is fighting, and it’s almost time to go back to Askr! What could go wrong, right?” 

The last couple months have been explosive. Byelth finally became her final form, or whatever you want to call it, and Aviana was there to witness it. Panic immediately struck everyone when Byleth disappeared into the darkened realm. Not one face was calm, and everyone was worried. Everyone except for Aviana. She stood there, her face calm and stoic, as she waited for Byleth to come out of the realm. The only reaction she had was biting her lips which was barely noticeable.

Claude gave her many weird and worried glances when he saw how cool, calm, and collected she was. He actually went up to her, shook her by the shoulders, and yelled at her. “Why are you so calm,” he yelled. “Our professor is in there and you can’t so much as act worried?! What’s wrong with you?!” 

Aviana closed her eyes for a second as she remembered. The pictures in the books showed as Sothis and Byleth combined. The students would laugh and cry once she came out of the darkness. Everyone would rejoice because Byleth once again had defeated the forces of evil.

But they didn’t know that. So she reacted as anyone would when they had to be strong for others.

She took his hands off her shoulders and put her hands on his shoulders. “Believe in the professor as you have done for the whole year,” she said. “She will make it out of there. Just…wait for it.” Whether it was the confusion or confidence that silenced him, she will never know. But she knew after what she said, the students straightened their backs and a new buzz of energy flowed through them. 

The events after that seemed to be a blur. She could barely remember what she had for lunch that day let alone anything leading up to meeting Edelgard just before this. She remembered going into the underground with the rest of the class. She also remembered the pure fear and nervousness she felt when the final seconds were coming up. But that’s about it.

Now everything was happening all at once and though she should have been prepared for the fallout, she was a mess. She could only grab so many notebooks and books before she was completely weighed down. That means some of her things had to be left in her room. Some of the things were left on purpose while others she simply could not fit in her bag. But if Claude had as much brains as she thought he did, he would go searching through her things after the time skip. She didn’t leave anything of catastrophic value, but there were sword techniques and other combat skills in there that would prove useful. 

However, that was not her main concern. 

Alfonse had sent Feh to tell her history had been set right in the academy stages and extraction was coming up soon. The only thing was that Feh arrived just yesterday, giving her no time to process or figure out what documents and maps she had to bring back to Askr. It was mere seconds before the day’s end as well and with the events happening the next day there was no hope. 

Alfonse was usually pretty good with these sorts of things. He was always on time, always organized and the possible things that stopped him from being punctual this time scared her. Did he run into some Empire soldiers as they made their way to the monastery? Did he meet a vengeful church member? Did he run into some troops from the Kingdom and the Alliance? She had no clue and perhaps that’s what scared her the most. 

She looked at the crunched and barely legible notes in her hand once more. She was to go to the courtyard in front of the Officer’s Academy for extraction. It was wide open, but they all decided everyone would be in too much of a panic to notice her going through a portal. Besides who would pay attention to what was going on in the school when there was a full blown out war going on?  
They were correct about it all. As she rounded the corner to the Officer’s Academy, she found it empty and void of all life except for her own. Students and professors had all gone out to fight against the Empire and the hordes of beasts they faced. 

She skidded to a halt and now all she had to do was wait. Her heart raced and sweat made its way into every crevice of her uniform. She was crunching and uncrunching the notes in her hand while she looked over her shoulder every now and again. She pulled at the dangling pieces of hair until her head hurt. It was terrifying just waiting there. She was worried about so many things it was hard to concentrate on anyone thing in particular. What if a volley of arrows came into the courtyard? What if a beast somehow made its way inside? What if-? 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she heard a voice say behind her, “You do realize we have a war going on, right?” 

She turned around only to see Claude panting vigorously and a worried look strewn across his face. This was the one interaction she had been trying to avoid for the past couple months. If she could have gone a couple minutes longer without seeing him, she would have been fine…or so she thought. Another part of her knew she would regret not seeing Claude before she left the past forever. Perhaps this was the push she needed. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked in return, “You’re supposed to be fighting the Empire right now! Not here!” It was true. All history books and every other documentation cites Claude as one of the people on the front lines. All stories suggested that he put his life on the line for the good of the church. Nowhere did it mention he was off chasing some random girl and confronting her. 

They could have missed that messed up part of history or he was going off to war after this. It could also be possible that this part was just too small to include, or it was in some sort of diary no one was privy to. 

“You know, at the beginning I thought your intuition was just that good but now I realize it’s something more.” Claude said. “After Dimitri had mentioned what Felix had said, it became more and more plausible that you’re not truly from this world. Not even my close friends know about Almyra, but somehow you knew before we even became close! Who are you really? Why have you come to this world?” 

Aviana dropped her eyes to the ground before looking back up to Claude a newfound sadness in her expression. There was nothing she could do now. He was too bright, and she became careless at the end. The only thing left to do was to come clean to him about her true intentions, but she knew she couldn’t do that. “I can’t tell you that,” Aviana said. “It would mess everything up. Did you really miss out on fighting just to come yell at me about the things I have done?” 

Claude shook his head, clearly frustrated. Why couldn’t he make her understand what he was feeling right now? Why couldn’t she see what was going on? He was confused and hurt and just wanted to know why she turned on him so quickly. They started out as friends, but after seeing her do a complete flip and start bullying the other students…he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure of his own feelings toward her and so sure at the same time. He just wanted to make sense of this crazy year.

“I only want to understand!” he yelled, “Why did you hurt the other students? You used to be such good friends with so many of them and then you suddenly turn on them? I saw Marianne crying her eyes out just the other day because she was so upset by what you said!” 

“I can’t explain it and I didn’t want to do it, but it had to happen,” Aviana yelled back just as quickly. “I have to do this for the greater good of Fodlan! I can’t expect you to understand because it’s beyond what is plausible for this world! Don’t you see it yet? Why do you care so much about a supposed enemy anyway? There are greater things to worry about than me!” 

Tears sprang from her eyes because she couldn’t find a way to make it make sense to the young Claude. It was a fruitless battle since she knew that this was beyond his realm of understanding or existence for that matter. This wasn’t supposed to happen. A girl from a mysterious world wasn’t supposed to show up unannounced and start causing chaos. She was constantly at war with herself over the same things Claude had been criticizing her for. How could she expect him to understand?

She looked back at him only to find his eyes full of sympathy and a blush across his cheeks. It definitely wasn’t the anger and malice she had been expecting. 

Her eyes widened. 

She knew that look. 

It was the look everyone got when they were slowly falling for someone. When an infatuation grew into a greater passion or intimacy. She saw it on every hero at some point when they came to Askr, but she couldn’t have expected to see it from Claude this early. 

“It’s because I-.” Claude started. 

“No don’t say it,” Aviana said putting her hands up. Claude was coming increasingly close to her, the same look of admiration in his eyes. 

“I-.” 

“No, Claude, stop.” 

Claude came right up to Aviana and put her hand on his chest, right on top of the pin he wore to note his leadership. “It’s because I love you,” Claude said. “And I want you to come back to Almyra with me when all of this is over.” 

Aviana stood there, unsure of what to say, but completely sure that this wasn’t supposed to happen. Nothing mentioned this. No diary or historical document. There was absolutely nothing that prepared her for a student, let alone a house leader, falling for her of all people. How did she get herself in this predicament? How could they have missed something this big? Not only was this completely not possible because of her love of Alfonse, but if she did reciprocate his feelings it would be extremely weird. He’s 17, for the goddess’ sake! 

Aviana suddenly felt a strong force behind her and knew the portal was being opened without having to even turn around. This was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for and now she was stuck in this situation. The only thing left to do was…to break the young house leader’s heart.

She grabbed at Claude’s pin while pushing him away a good couple feet. It ripped off his uniform, leaving a sizeable hole right above his heart. Aviana looked at the pin in her hand and panted as she realized what she had just done. She looked up to see Claude’s hurt and confused face. She winced at the absolute pain and betrayal in his eyes. In the next second, he realized the portal behind her and reached out his hand. “Wait!” he yelled. “Please wait!” 

“This isn’t supposed to happen!” Aviana said backing up and grasping onto the pin tightly, “You know as well as I do that you weren’t supposed to fall in love with me. I…am so sorry Claude. Please learn to forgive me.” 

Not knowing what else to do, Claude broke out his bow and arrow. He didn’t want to hurt her, just scare her so much that she wouldn’t want to come back and mess with their world. The betrayal he was experiencing right now was something that brought back bad memories and intense feelings. Images of many scorning high nobles and kidnapping attempts flashed past his mind. It was if he was experiencing the same fear and heartache he felt at those times as he was looking at her. No amount of talking down from Dimitri or Hilda could stop what he was feeling or what he was going to do. 

Anger coursed through him more than he never could have thought he would feel. He wasn’t mad that she rejected him, he was expecting that. He was mad because she thought she could come into this world and mess it up and hurt people without explaining it to anyone. That’s what he was shooting for. 

Aviana noticed the bow and arrows, her eyes widened, and she ran for her life. She ran as fast as she could for the newly opened portal, books and all.

“Alfonse!” she yelled as she got closer, “Incoming!” Claude shot the arrow just as she got to the entrance. To avoid its fatal blow, she tripped over the edge and fell face first into the Askran castle. Alfonse and the others quickly closed the portal behind her as the arrow soared across the room. It stuck into the wall with so much strength and force that it would take weeks to get it out. 

Everyone was panting and shaking, adrenaline still coursing through their veins. They couldn’t find the words to say to explain their feelings about what just happened. Aviana, still on the ground, looked at the arrow before turning over onto to her back and put an arm over her face. Even though he had almost killed her, Claude still put a sizeable hole in her heart. Never in her life had she seen that kind of hurt and betrayal in someone’s eyes. Never in her life had she imagined that it would be her to put those feelings in someone’s heart. 

She was confused more than anything. Was it the rejection or the betrayal that caused Claude to shoot at her? The more she thought about the arrow’s placement on the wall the more she realized he didn’t actually want to kill her. Perhaps just scare her. However, these were all assumptions that would never be made clear. 

Small amounts of tears escaped her eyes as she tried to make sense of it all. 

Soon, Alfonse sat down next to her and rubbed her harm gently. “Are you…are you okay?” he asked, still panting. 

Aviana took her arm from her head and banged it harshly on the ground. She gave him a weary look as she spoke.

“When…when Claude finally comes to Askr,” she said. “Ban him from training…until he learns the proper etiquette…for shooting at an unarmed opponent.”

~End Act 1~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOoohhh a confession! I hoped you liked reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it. That does it for act one, but don't worry there's more acts to come! Thank you for staying with me for so long!

**Author's Note:**

> So this is going to be a multiple chapter thing.  
> I've had this in my head since the summer and I finally had a chance to start writing it down.  
> There are also supports added to this between the summoner and the three houses characters if you want to check that out! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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